10/20/2025
The last attraction Walt Disney helped create was Pirates of the Caribbean in Disneyland. π΄ββ οΈ The attraction's scenes were actually first built in a warehouse, then taken completely apart and shipped to Disneyland where they were permanently installed.
When it came to the actual footprint of the attraction inside Disneyland, Walt decided that it would have to actually be mostly "outside" the park, meaning outside the berm that he had created to surround Disneyland. There were just way too many ideas and concepts that he wanted to put inside Pirates of the Caribbean and there simply wasn't enough room for it within the original confines of the park. So the attraction would load and unload within New Orleans Square, but the main "guts" of the attraction would be contained in a show building on the other side of the railroad tracks. The problem was, now Walt had to figure out how to get his guests under those tracks without them knowing. π€¨
Walt asked Imagineer and friend Herb Ryman to draw some concepts of how the boats might descend the 26 feet necessary to get out to the other side of the berm. Herb came up with a big, thrilling waterfall drop that would plunge guests all the way down in one shot. Walt took a look at it and asked Herb if he could take his drawing home for the night. The next morning, Walt showed up with a newly edited version of Herb's concept, now featuring two waterfalls. "I changed your idea," Walt told Herb. "I've got them going down. They do it once and they only go down twelve feet, and then they go along and they don't know it's going to happen again and then it happens again. Now that's better, isn't it?" π€―
Disney Legend X Atencio, who wrote both the script for the attraction AND the song, "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life For Me)", rigged a dolly with a chair for Walt to sit on and he and some others pushed him through the scenes in the warehouse. When they got to the auction scene, X noticed that it was difficult to make out specifically what each pirate was saying, since they were talking at the same time. He apologized to Walt for his "mistake". Walt loved it. He told X (I'm paraphrasing), 'It's like a cocktail party! Each time you come through, you will hear something different.' β€οΈπ°β€οΈ
There are conflicting stories out there on whether or not Walt got to ride Pirates before he passed away. Some books say he did and he had notes. Others say he never got to see it with the water flowing through. What is definite, though, is he did absolutely walk the empty water channel with some of his Imagineers. Some of the scenes were completed but most were not. Disney Legend Marc Davis was with Walt on that day, and he remembered mentioning to Walt that the complicated mouth movements of the Auctioneer in auction scene were a waste of effort and money. Walt told him, "No, Marc, it's not a waste...we do so much return business down here, and the next time people come in they'll see something they hadn't noticed before." β€οΈπ°β οΈ
I debated adding more to this story. The first one I wrote had like three or four more paragraphs, but then I realized that was its own story! Thank you so much for reading this one and any other story you may have read recently! ππ I'm having an absolute blast going back to the books I've read to pull out these quotes! The first quote in this story comes from "The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney" by Michael Barrier. It's in lots of other books and articles as well. The second Walt Disney quote comes from "Walt's Disneyland" by Marcy Carriker Smothers. I can't recommend that one enough!
Thank you again for reading! πβ€
